Duchess and the Priest
by Clarisse Etienne
Summary: AstharoshexAbel Fanfiction. Please R&R!


**Duchess and the Priest**

Chapter One

Astharoshe Asran, Duchess of Odessa and Kiev walked down the hall of her mansion toward the dining room. Just awhile ago she found her partner sneaking around outside her mansion. Her partner was a traveling priest known as Abel Nightroad and he was the same bumbling idiot he always was. Though to her it seemed a long time since she last saw him and he hadn't changed at all, which made her quite surprised. Incredulous even, at first. She was a little more surprised when she saw Ion, the Count of Memphis, was there with Abel. But, she remembered that Ion had to go to the outer world and bring back a messenger from there. She was even ordered by the empress to protect the messenger, but she hadn't expected the messenger to be that idiotic priest. There was also a nun, Esther was her name, with Abel. She wasn't too happy about that. She got mad at Abel for having brought a woman with him even if the woman was a nun, and because she didn't know why the hell he was there. Well, she knew why, now.

She entered the dining room and sat down at the table, right across from Abel.

"Hey Asthe. What took you so long?"

Abel asked, curious.

"Something."

She said, and she sounded irritated. She had gone and spoken with the empress about the fact that she had to take care of and protect Abel, Ion, as well as Esther. She didn't like it and she had protested against it. But, in the end she complied with the empress's demand. She looked at Abel and saw him stuff his mouth full of food. She scowled as she gave him a bitter look. Pig, was the first word that came to her mind as she watched him.

Astharoshe stepped into the large bath in the bathing room of her mansion. It was so big that it could fit more than twenty people. Though, she liked the fact that it was spacious. She relaxed in the nice warm water as she let out a sigh of content. She thought about Abel and what would happen while he was here. What new adventures awaited them? She laughed a little as she thought about that. She heard someone else get into the water, and walked close to her before the person relaxed in the water as well. If it was Abel she would have killed him on the spot, but she saw that it was just Esther, so she resisted the urge to kill her. Though she was still angry at the fact that the nun had to ruin her bath.

"Oh, Lady Astharoshe. I didn't know you were in here… I'm sorry, I'll go now."

Esther said, and got up to go.

"No, it's all right. You can stay."

Astharoshe said. She didn't want Esther to go now, since her bath was ruined it didn't matter now. Esther nodded and relaxed once again in the water as she sighed with relief. Esther looked at Astharoshe nervously and asked.

"How do you know Abel?"

Astharoshe had raised an eyebrow at the young girl, and sighed. She once again tried to keep calm and just smiled.

"Well, you see, he helped me out one time. It was a mission from quite awhile ago when I had to catch a murderer in Venice by the name of Count Zagrev. We were partners, and it worked out well in the end, even though he was an idiot and of course he still is. Or, at least he can be at times."

She said, and tried her best not to sound as if she were fond of him.

"All in all, he is a very great friend."

She said last, and nodded. Esther seemed to relax after that, almost as if she were glad that they were just friends. Astharoshe scowls at that, but tried to calm herself down and smiled again. Her thoughts went back to the time when she had first met Abel. She couldn't believe that the Vatican had sent over such an idiotic priest to help her. But, she shouldn't have been fooled by that, for she thought he was weak. He certainly was not weak, she had found that out at least. Even if he was an idiot, she still liked him and was still very fond of him. After all, they had gotten to know each other very well during the mission. She sighed again, and got out of the bath. With the help of her servants she dried off and got dressed for the night, she wore a night gown and a night time robe. She told Esther that she could get out whenever she wanted and then left her. She didn't think she could stay there any longer with the girl who liked the same man as she did. She would never admit she was jealous though. Never.

Astharoshe woke with a start that night. She had heard something downstairs and she had quickly gotten out of bed, as well as put her robe on. She grabbed her sword and hurried downstairs, into the sitting room where the balcony was. She saw someone on the floor, it looked like the person had tripped over one of her pots, and knocked it down. She knew who it was and she set her sword aside as she sighed. She was very annoyed now, and she grabbed the person by their clothes as she pulled them up onto their feet. She looked into Abel's eyes and he looked back into her eyes, blinking.

"Oh! It's you Asthe."

Abel said and he sounded happy.

"Did I wake you up?"

He then asked and sounded worried. Astharoshe felt like she wanted to hit him, but she stayed as calm as she could and glared at him.

"Of course you woke me up you buffoon!"

She yelled at him angrily. He motioned for her to be quiet.

"You might wake up the others."

He said. This time she couldn't restrain herself and she punched the side of his face, though not too hard. But, he still flew back and laid sprawled out on the ground.

"Don't tell me to be quiet. You were the one who woke me up!"

She hissed at him. Abel looked at her with hurt in his eyes, but she knew he was faking it. She sighed and once again helped him off the ground. He wobbled over onto the balcony as he whispered something. Like he needed fresh air. She followed him, and stood beside him as they both looked beyond the horizon.

"Isn't nature so beautiful?"

Abel asked her, but did not bother to look at her as he spoke. She smiled and she also didn't bother to look at him.

"Yes, it is. Very beautiful indeed."

She said as she felt very content at the moment.

"Beautiful, like you."

Abel said and looked at her now. Astharoshe froze, but looked at him, shocked. She knew she was blushing, and that her mouth was open with surprise, but she couldn't fix that at the moment. Her heart was pounding in her chest, just at the fact that he called her beautiful. It felt like a long time since she had heard such words from him. Though the first time she heard those words from him, she didn't care. In fact, she had gotten mad at him. She wondered why it mattered now. Abel grinned as he looked back at her.

"I've never seen you blush before Asthe."

He said as he teased her. She felt like she wanted to hit him again and she scowled now. She looked away, and sighed once more. She wished he would be serious more often. Now she didn't believe that he thought she was beautiful. Abel frowned, and pouted a little.

"I'm sorry Asthe. I didn't mean to make you mad."

Abel said. She glanced at him, and knew he didn't mean it. After all, he only tried to make her laugh. But, she had not laughed for a long time. Not since the partner she had before him had died. She was surprised that Abel could even make her smile. But, for the fact that he did, it made her like him even more. She decided that it was getting late. She knew the next day she'd have to go out with Abel to do the new mission they had. She turned and walked out of the sitting room. Before she did though, Abel spoke, which made her stop so she heard him.

"Goodnight Astharoshe."

He said to her, and then they went silent. It was silent for awhile and neither of them moved.

"Goodnight Abel."

Astharoshe said at last, and went back to bed. As she laid in her bed, she kept her thoughts on about how much time she could spend with him. She wanted to spend more free time with him, and she would make sure that before he left they would go out to eat and spend that time to talk together. Just talk…


End file.
